


On Both Sides

by SilverFliesInBlueSugar



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Drama, Ladybug!Nathalie Sancoeur, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 13:50:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20949386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFliesInBlueSugar/pseuds/SilverFliesInBlueSugar
Summary: Murphy's law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."What would happen if Nathalie Sancoeur was chosen to be Ladybug?Well on one hand, Marinette and Adrien would have less difficulty falling in love.On the other ... Ladybug is now both working for and against HawkMoth.It's a mess.





	On Both Sides

For all intents and purposes, the morning had began normally for Nathalie Sancoeur, assistant to famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste.

Sure, her boss had been acting even more strange and reclusive than usual, (if that were even possible) but her work was the same. Her routine was the same. Familiar monotony followed her wherever she stepped.

And then lunch break came.

She had stepped out from the manor, gnawing hunger eating away at her stomach and cognitive ability. She groaned, stumbling forward tiredly until she reached the road crossing, the light lingering on red. Just across this road was a delightful little café that served rather delicious food. She practically felt physically compelled to go to it.

And then she saw him. An old man, looking to be in his 80's at least, was hobbling across the road. His eyes were fixed ahead, and with a glance to her side she noticed the clear object of his attention; a worried looking teen with dark blue hair and a box of macarons in her hand. Nathalie raised a brow.

Then she registered that the light hadn't turned yet, and a car was hurtling down the road toward the man. Her body moved before her brain did, and she ran forward to pull him to safety, not noticing how the teen beside her had just been about to do the same, nor did she see the utterly shocked look on the old man's face before he wiped it off, so caught up she was in her own adrenalin rush.

"Ah, thank you, ma'am" he said seemingly sincerely, and as she nodded at him the teen turned and left to go to school. "It's alright. But you should definitely be more careful in future, these roads can be quite dangerous"

He smiled. "Yes, i see that now. Thank you once again"

She nodded curtly and left to go to the cafè, a little shaken up from the slightly harrowing experience of saving another. Behind her, Fu hummed thoughtfully.

Wayzz popped out the moment he was out of public sight, looking surprised. "You are not going after Marinette Dupain-Cheng, master?"

"I may do so, still. However..." Fu smiled slightly. "I may have just found a different candidate"

A half-mile away, Nathalie sat at a table drinking coffee, reading e-mails off of her phone.

She was only 26, and tired. She had barely slept the night before, and barely ate the past week. She simultaneously had a heart full of love and one devoid of it, repressed and pushed down. And yet, despite this, still had a softer kindness underneath her strict demeanor. 

She was none the wiser to the fact that today her life would change dramatically, both for the better and for the worse.

\---

Nathalie stared, bemused, at the box in front of her.

She knew exactly what it was, which was what made her so bewildered. It was a miraculous box, though it seemed in a better condition than the ones Emilie and Gabriel had had in their possession.

Tentatively, she opened the lid. Inside were two black stud earrings. She very slowly reached out to touch them, fingers tingling apon contact, akin to a static shock. She swallowed. She should really go tell Mr Agreste about this. He would know more than she did, and what to do with them. But then again, he barely even spoke or left his office anymore. Would he even care?

Her curiosity led her to put them on. It had always been her worst trait. Were she a tragedy protagonist, she was sure that it, along with her devotion, would be her fatal flaw.

Immediately a bright light shot up, whizzing around her head before forming into... A kwami? It must be. She had never seen Mr Agreste's kwami, but she knew of it. And she couldn't think of anything else it could be.

It smiled cheerily. "Hi!"

Nathalie blinked at it several times before raising a brow. "Hello?"

It seemed surprised at her nonchalance, but rolled with it. When it next spoke, it's voice was distinctly feminine. A... Girl, then? 

"My name is Tikki, and I'm a kwami! You're probably really confused-"

"Yes, i am. Primarily because this has to be some kind of mistake" Nathalie sighed. "I doubt i was the intended recipient."

"Oh, no, you were!" Tikki exclaimed. "You've been chosen!"

Nathalie paused. "Chosen for what?"

The kwami flew over to her tv remote, pressing the on-button. Nathalie opened her mouth to protest, but went silent as she saw the news report. "A... Monster?" she said slowly, taking in what she was looking at. The woman onscreen spoke. _"As incredible as it seems, it appears Paris is indeed being attacked by a supervillain. Police are struggling to keep the situation under control..."_

"What the hell?" the beleaguered woman muttered, eyebrows furrowing before she came to a realization. She gave the kwami a worried look. "Oh. Am i supposed to stop that? Because i assure you that i am not combat trained, with or without a 'kwami'"

"Oh, being transformed makes things much easier!" the kwami responded happily before pausing. "Umm, you seem really casual about this. You don't seem scared or confused at all..."

Nathalie huffed, resting her head on her palm. "You'll be surprised what a work day does to you. At least i have the afternoon off today. Besides, i don't tend to react too much to things. Being dramatic doesn't help anything, after all. But i assure you that this is very strange for me."

Tikki scrutinized her for a moment before smiling brightly. "I think i understand now why you were chosen for this!" she said with obvious optimism, before settling down. "I don't know how much infromation i have time to give you, since we need to get out and stop that akuma as soon as possible-"

"Akuma?" Nathalie said slowly.

"That's why that monster exists! If a person with strong emotions is affected by an akuma, they can be transformed and controlled! It can be used for good and for evil... But right now it's being used for evil" Tikki looked sad. "And that's why I'm here, with you. To defend Paris. If you'll agree, of course!"

"Me. Defending Paris against superpowered monsters. With zero combat experience. Alone." Nathalie ran a hand down her face.

"Oh, you won't be alone!" Tikki chirruped. "Another kwami called Plagg has been given to someone else, and that person will operate as your partner!"

Just then, a particularly loud crash sounded outside. She looked up in alarm. "Sounds like something just got destroyed"

"Please, Miss! We need to help those people! You have powers that can help, and you won't be in danger, i promise! You have 'Lucky Charm', which gives you a helpful object, and 'Miraculous Ladybug' which heals any damage caused to the area after the akumatized villain has been defeated!"

"I..." Nathalie shook her head. All of this was ridiculous. "This is a one-time thing. I have a demanding job that can't be ignored in favour of... Gallivanting about pretending to be some kind of saviour" she stood up. "Alright. How do i... Transform?"

"Oh, just say 'Spots On'!"

She hesitated before saying it. She could take the earring out right now, put the box away, and never think of this again.

But she knew she couldn't just do that.

"Alright. Tikki, Spots On."

The sensation that followed was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She felt a warm light wash over her body, and blinked as her clothes morphed into... A skintight material? Latex? Spandex? Leather? Something like that. It didn't really matter, at least it wasn't uncomfortable.

She ran her hand over her face and realized there was a mask over her eyes.

Looking down at herself, the mild fashion enthusiast inside of herself felt slightly pleased. It was simple, but looked quite nice. The material over her neck, arms and legs were entirely black, though the soles of her 'shoes' were red. Her chest and main-body area were red and spotted with black, just like a ladybug. She noted that her hair had loosened from a bun into a ponytail, and that the red streak in her hair was now accompanied by several others.

All in all... She wasn't upset with how her costume looked.

"Now then..." she murmered with as must enthusiasm as she could muster, which was none. "Time to go get myself killed."

\---

Hurtling across the sky over the streets of Paris wasn't exactly what she had intended, but it happened anyway. She allowed herself a brief yelp before she clamped her mouth shut and she began desperately trying to think of a solution, her yoyo zipping back into her hand as the wire reloaded.

She swung it at a tree, jerking her feet out and bracing herself for impact as she swung into the side of a house, legs bending apon impact. She sighed with relief. Nothing seemed broken.

Slowly she retracted the wire and began to drop down, until her feet touched the floor. Never before had she been so happy to be simply stood on the ground. The nice, safe ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice called from above, and she looked up to see a boy drop down from above. He was covered entirely in black, seemingly from the same material her own attire was, and had a black eye mask as well as black cat ears and a large metal pole in his hands. She nodded. "Yes. I just miscalculated just how... Strong my yoyo was" she swung it about idly. "So you are my partner." it wasn't really a question.

He nodded anyway. "Yeah, looks like it. What's your name? I'm, uh..." he tapped his chin in thought. "How about... Chat Noir? Sounds cool, right?"

She chuckled slightly. "It sounds fine. I'd rather go simpler. You can just call me Ladybug"

"Alright. I gotta say, i expected someone more like my age. You're a lot older" Chat Noir said, sounding curious. She shrugged. "And i was expecting someone older, but it won't be an issue if we can work together properly. I hope so, at least. How old are you?"

"I'm 15. And you?"

"Then I'm 10 years older than you" Nathalie hummed, before shrugging and turning away. "Anyway, i didn't get all suited up in this to just talk. There's a monster somewhere we need to somehow defeat."

Just then there was a loud crash, and the earth shook as an office building collapsed in the distance. 

Chat Noir immediatelly used his staff to propel himself upwards, flying up onto the roof of the house next to them. (The one that Nathalie had nearly crashed into)

"Wait, where are you going?" she exclaimed as he began to sprint off. He paused just long enough to throw a light-hearted "To save Paris, obviously!" over his shoulder, before continuing his sprint.

Frowning but deciding she may as well help, she slung her yoyo at the top of that same building and tugged, and felt a familiar scream tear through her throat as she once again went flying through the sky at an unsettling speed.

\---

Chat Noir dropped down in the middle of the football stadium, drropping his staff to ward off the villain and allowing another teen to sprint off. He sassed it with a grin, and Nathalie, watching cautiously from above, noted that he seemed very comfortable in this role. A lot more comfortable than she was, at least, though that wasn't hard.

Stoneheart lunged at him, and he dodged easily, stumbling on his feet slightly, and it suddenly occured to her that this kid almost certainly had little to no combat training just like her. She should probably help. But she didn't know what to do.

Chat leapt up above it and struck it on the head, but all this seemed to do was enrage it, growing in size with a roar.

"Uhhh, partner, i could really use some help right now!" Chat yelped as he dodged the ensuing onslaught of attacks, bits of dirt and rock flying everywhere.

Nathalie's mind was racing, trapped between a desire to help and an undeniable fear that this was the way that she was going to die, until she saw a stray boulder flying at a girl near the rim of the court. The girl was kneeling and clutching a camera, there was no way she would be able to get out of the way in time.

She darted forward and tackled the girl, pushing her out of the way. The goal crashed down behind her as she landed. One second too late and that would have killed her. This was already more dangerous than anything she had ever done before.

Shakily getting back on her feet, she noticed the teen she had saved staring at her with barely contained awe. "Woah, that was awesome! You're a superhero too, right? Like that other guy?"

"No time to talk" she grumbled, spinning her yoyo around as she noticed the villain reaching to grab Chat Noir. She threw it at him, and it wrapped around him twice before she recalled it, zipping him over to her and thus to safety.

"I'm already sweating" she groaned, shaking her head. "This is dreadful"

"I dunno, it's kinda fun!" Chat smirked, looking ready for round two. She grabbed his shoulder in warning. "Don't just go back in for another attack!"

He frowned. "Why not?"

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Did you seriously not notice that he grew in size when you hit him? We obviously need another way to defeat him"

"Well, how about our powers?" he grinned, readying his hand. "Cataclysm!"

His hand filled up with a strange formless black energy, and he stared at it with open thrill. "Apparently with this i can destroy whatever i touch!" he reached to press his hand against the football goal, and she grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "We don't know how many times you can use that!"

"Oh, right. Sorry!" he grinned sheepishly, before turning back to the villain. "Time to rumble, rock monster!"

"Be careful!" she warned him. "You don't want to hit the wrong thing and destroy the whole stadium!"

"Duly noted" he shuddered before running ahead. It swung it's fist at him, and she shot out her yoyo, wrapping it around his arm and tugging it away. Chat's hand made contact with it's leg.

It crumbled in a matter of moments.

A small purple butterfly flew out and away, and Nathalie watched it leave with faint curiosity.

In the ashes of where the monster had just been sat a rather large boy with black hair dyed yellow at the front, groaning and rubbing his head in what seemed to be pain.

Chat gave her a nervous smile. "Hey, thanks for helping me out and stopping me from being an idiot. And for our first time fighting as a team, and our first time even just fighting, i think we did okay!"

She nodded in agreement, allowing a small smile to grace her face before noticing a rock that had fallen near her dissolve into a scrunched up piece of paper.

She picked it up curiously, frowning as her eyes scanned the words. It was some sort of of mocking note, insulting him for not admitting his feelings to some girl he liked.

She walked over to the teen and handed him back the paper, feeling a little uncertain. She didn't particularly know what to say.

Chat's ring bleeped, and he gave her a little salute. "I should probably get going before i transform back. I hope i get to see you again, though!"

She nodded and watched him leave, before turning back to the teen. But before she could open her mouth, she heard running footsteps and turned to see a girl with dark blue pigtails and brighter blue eyes running over.

"Ivan! Are you okay?"

He glanced up at her, looking morose. "Yeah. I don't know what happened. I just got so... Angry!" he clenched his fists, obviously overwhelmed. "Kim keeps making fun of me, and i just wanted to punch him out. And then i became that... Thing"

"Oh, is this about your crush on Mylène?" the other teen asked softly, and Nathalie bit her lip. She didn't really need to be here anymore, and listening to this felt off. It was just some teen love drama after all.

With a swing of her yoyo, she was gone.

\---

Nathalie watched the news report with a sigh, hating just how much she was now in the spotlight. Sure, nobody knew it was her, and the attention was evenly split between her and her partner, but she had always been uncomfortable as the focus of attention in any scenario, identity privacy or not.

Tikki flew around her happily, eating a marshmallow. Nathalie had promised to buy her cookies later, as treats were apparently the way to recharge her. The kwami looked up at her with joy. "You did so well! You didn't even need to use your lucky charm!"

"Yes. I also forgot to use the miraculous ladybug thing" Nathalie leant back in her chair and closed her eyes to try and ward off an impending migraine. "So half of that football arena is now destroyed"

"Oh, you still did awesome, don't downplay it!" Tikki pouted.

Just then her phone buzzed, and she flinched when she noticed that the caller ID was her boss.

"Yes, sir?"

"I was simply checking in to ensure your safety after that strange attack today"

"Ah. I was home the entire time, i wasn't affected" she lied smoothly. Lying felt... Strange. She didn't often do it, certainly not to him.

"Good. I wanted to know if you could come back into work. There is a little more to be done"

She held back a groan and nodded. "Of course, I'll be there in half an hour"

"Thank you" he hung up. She frowned but got up to get ready.

Somewhere atop a tower, a butterfly split into 2, and then 5, and then 10, and continued to duplicate until there was a mass of black.

\---

"Of course you eat camembert cheese. Fantastic. So I'm going to smell of stinky old cheese all day" Adrien complained, hanging his head in annoyance as his kwami happily ate away at the small block. Plagg turned to frown at him. "It's delicious!" he protested. Adrien just rolled his eyes.

He reached for the remote to check on the news, and froze up with a worried frown. More people were turning into stone monsters? But didn't they defeat the villain?

"Did you capture the akuma?" Plagg asked flatly.

"What" he blinked. 

"If you don't catch them then they can multiply! And if Ivan is reakumatized then he can control all of those stone beings!"

"Aw, crap"


End file.
